This invention relates to an automated valuation system and method and more particularly to such a system and method which examines the offered price and the feature elements for each of a plurality of specimens and determines the amount that each specimen""s offered price differs from the actual value of that specimen.
Ever since people have been shopping, they have always been interested in obtaining the best possible deal for their money. Retail businesses realize this and publish flyers and advertisements touting the prices of the items they are selling. In the past, the prudent shopper would compile these sales flyers from various stores and compare the prices of the items listed for sale and shop at the business that they felt had the best bargains.
With the proliferation of computers and the internet, people have turned toward cyberspace to assist them in bargain hunting. The internet quickly became populated with websites from e-tailers (internet-based retailers). These websites advertised the bargains available from these internet businesses, much in the same way the paper-based sales flyers advertised the items available at traditional retail establishments.
As with paper-based technology, internet consumers began comparing the bargains available at various websites to seek out the best bargains. Several websites were established which allowed the consumer to select the item or product they were looking for and then have the website search various e-tailer websites, so that the consumer could comparison shop for the item(s) they were looking for at various merchant websites.
Unfortunately, these two methods of comparison shopping (paper and computer based) merely compare the selling prices of the item offered by various retailers. They do not analyze the selling price of the particular item to determine if the product offered for sale is actually worth its selling price. Moreover, since these comparison websites are typically used to compare identical products, they do not allow the user to compare the features available from different products. Further, in the event that the system is used to compare dissimilar products (so that the features of various products could be compared), the purpose of the price comparison is compromised. Additionally, in the event that the user utilizes one of these comparison websites to compare dissimilar products having varying features, the website will not analyze the specific features available in the product, with respect to price, to determine if the product is a good value.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an automated valuation system and method which allows the user to review and compare various items which are offered for sale.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system and method which allows the user to compare the individual features of each item.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system and method which allows the user to determine the actual value of the item offered for sale.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system and method which enables the user to determine the difference between the offered selling price of the item being sold and its actual value.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system and method which allows the user to determine the amount that the individual features of each item contribute to the actual selling price of the item.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system and method which allows the user to assess the level of confidence the user should afford the calculated values.
This invention results from the realization that a truly effective automated valuation system and method can be achieved by analyzing the offered price and features of a plurality of items offered for sale, so that the actual value of these individual items can be calculated and compared to the offered price of each item.
This invention features an automated valuation system including: a database containing a first feature element and an offered price for each of a plurality of specimens; a comparative valuation device, responsive to the first feature element and the offered price for each of the plurality of specimens, for generating a plurality of valuation coefficients, indicative of the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; an actual value calculator, responsive to the comparative valuation device generating the plurality of valuation coefficients, for calculating the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; and a price comparator for comparing, for each of the plurality of specimens, the actual value of the specimen to the offered price of the specimen to determine a cost indicator, wherein the cost indicator is indicative of the amount that the offered price of a specimen differs from the actual value of a specimen.
In a preferred embodiment, the automated valuation system may include a feature weighting device, responsive to the price comparator generating the cost indicator, for generating a correlation factor for the first feature element, indicative of the impact that the first feature element has on the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens. The comparative valuation device may include an offered price averaging system, responsive to the database, for determining an average offered price for the plurality of specimens. The comparative valuation device may include a first feature element averaging system, responsive to the database, for determining the average first feature element value for the plurality of specimens. The comparative valuation device may include a feature element square summing device for mathematically squaring each first feature element and summing these squared first feature elements, thus producing a first feature element squared sum. The comparative valuation device may include a product summing device for determining, for each of the plurality of specimens, the product of the offered price and the first feature element, and summing these products to produce a first feature element product sum. The comparative valuation device may utilize the average offered price, the average first feature element value, the first feature element squared sum, and the first feature element product sum, to determine the plurality of valuation coefficients. The comparative valuation device may include a simultaneous equation generation system for generating a plurality of simultaneous equations indicative of the plurality of valuation coefficients. The actual value calculator may include a best fit equation generator and the actual value calculator may utilize the plurality of valuation coefficients to produce a best-fit equation, which generates the actual value of each specimen in relation to its respective first feature element. The database may contain at least one additional feature element for each of the plurality of specimens, the comparative valuation device may generate an additional valuation coefficient for each additional feature element, and the correlation factor may be indicative of the impact that the first and the at least one additional feature element has on the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens.
This invention also features a method of automatically determining the actual value for each of a plurality of specimens, comprising the steps of: storing, in a database, a first feature element and an offered price for each of a plurality of specimens; generating, through the use of the first feature element and the offered price, a plurality of valuation coefficients, indicative of the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; calculating, through the use of the plurality of valuation coefficients, the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; and comparing, for each of the plurality of specimens, the actual value of the specimen to the offered price of the specimen to determine a cost indicator, wherein the cost indicator is indicative of the amount that the offered price of a specimen differs from the actual value of a specimen.
In a preferred embodiment, the method may include the step of generating a correlation factor for the first feature element, indicative of the impact that the first feature element has on the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens. The method may include the step of generating, in response to each specimen including additional feature elements, an additional valuation coefficient for each additional feature element.
This invention also features a processor and memory configured to perform the steps of: storing, in a database, a first feature element and an offered price for each of a plurality of specimens; generating, through the use of the first feature element and the offered price, a plurality of valuation coefficients, indicative of the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; calculating, through the use of the plurality of valuation coefficients, the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; and comparing, for each of the plurality of specimens, the actual value of the specimen to the offered price of the specimen to determine a cost indicator, wherein the cost indicator is indicative of the amount that the offered price of a specimen differs from the actual value of a specimen.
In a preferred embodiment, the processor and memory may be incorporated into a personal computer, a programmable logic controller, a single board computer, or an array of network servers.
This invention also features a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, cause that processor to perform the steps of: storing, in a database, a first feature element and an offered price for each of a plurality of specimens; generating, through the use of the first feature element and the offered price, a plurality of valuation coefficients, indicative of the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; calculating, through the use of the plurality of valuation coefficients, the actual value of each of the plurality of specimens; and comparing, for each of the plurality of specimens, the actual value of the specimen to the offered price of the specimen to determine a cost indicator, wherein the cost indicator is indicative of the amount that the offered price of a specimen differs from the actual value of a specimen.
In a preferred embodiment, the computer readable medium may be a hard drive, a read-only memory, or a random-access memory.